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[German version] I. Ancient Near East and Egypt Weapons were among the earliest artefacts fashioned by humans and their ancestors. Stone arrowheads and blades were the first recognizable weapons in the ancient Near East into the Neolithic Period ( c. 10000 BC). From the 4th millennium BC, weapons were depicted on roll seals and stelae in scenes of warfare or hunting. Of maces suitable for close combat, generally only the heads (of stone or metal) survive. One exception is the deposit at the Chalcolithic find site of Naḥal Mišmār in P…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Umbri, Umbria City in southern Etruria on the southwestern shore of Lacus Volsiniensis (Lago di Bolsena), modern Monte Bisenzio. The course of the city wall, an aqueduct, shore fortifications and wall remains interpreted as grain stores are the only memorials to Roman V. ( municipium; tribus Sabatina). The city is more important for information it offers on the Etruscan and above all the early Italian Iron Age. Expansive necropoleis (e.g. Olmo Bello, Polledrara, San Bernardino) with rich gr…

[German version] The VC is among the most significant Iron Age cultural phenomena of early Italy (9th cent. until the last quarter of the 8th cent. BC). The subdivisions are not uniform across the whole area of the VC, but there is general progress from an early phase ( c. 900-820 BC), through a transitional phase ( c. 820-770) to an end phase ( c. 770-730). The core area of the VC proper covers ancient Etruria (Etrusci, Etruria), northern Latium and Tuscany, by the early phase there were already advances across the crest of the Apennines northwards into the…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Villanova Culture | Italy, languages The modern town of N. is about 7 km south of Pesaro on the Adriatic. It is likely that the site corresponds to that of the ancient (Picene) settlement, although unambiguous traces of settlement have yet to be found. Better known are the finds from the necropoleis. Of barely 300 investigated graves there are the older ones, beginning in the 8th cent. BC, mostly from the Molaroni necropolis, whereas the more recent…

[German version] I. Italic, Celtic and Germanic Bucket-shaped vessel, as a rule metal, for the carrying and short-term holding of liquids. The shape is generally conical, with flat shoulders and a wide opening, on which a carrying handle was often also fixed with eyelets. The bottom, body and rim were mostly fashioned separately, then riveted together. In Etruria situlae are recorded from the 9th cent. BC onwards and were widely distributed there from the Orientalising Period on. Situlae had far greate…

I. Ancient Near East [German version] A. Metal extraction Metals are extracted from ores (smelting). Precious metals: gold, silver, elektron; base metals: copper, tin, lead, iron. The beginnings of metallurgy can be found in mineralogically favourable regions, particularly near the (copper-)ore deposits of Anatolia. Elements of pyrotechnology have been identified in aceramic neolithic settlements of the early 7th millennium BC, in particular products of metallurgy based on the smelting of copper ore. The…

[German version] Modern town in the Vallo di Diano (province of Salerno, Lucania) whose ancient name was not transmitted. Its fame is due to the necropolis with more than 1,500 tombs from the Early Historical Period (10th to the 6th cents. BC) located to the north west and south east of the town; the location of the corresponding settlement has yet to be determined. The inventories of the tombs as well as the so-called Waffengrab suggest an elite of leading families, esp. due to the absence of princely graves with magnificent and prestigious furnishings. As was the ca…

[German version] Chronologically, the Golasecca culture (GC) encompasses the 12th to the 4th cents. BC, with the proto-GC (12th-11th cents. BC) regarded as the first stage that was still Bronze Age; spatially the GC stretches from the source region of the Ticino via Lago Maggiore and Lago di Como to the Po. This culture which can mainly be understood through tomb inventories is divided up into three groups that initially all favoured cremation. The western group with the important necropoleis Sest…

[German version] The term Este culture is applied broadly to the Iron Age population group of the Veneti in the period between 1000 und 300 BC (chronological table in  Golasecca culture), whose material legacy from the area between the Po, Lake Garda, the north-eastern arc of the Alps and the Adriatic indicates a relatively homogeneous group at a similar stage of development. The name is taken from the necropoleis of the most important settlement of the early period, today's Este. Other centres we…

[German version] Bronze Age culture in the Po valley, characterised by earth mounds with dark nutrient-rich soil containing the remains of TC settlements and used in modern times as fertiliser. The range of the TC is delineated by modern Emilia and Veneto. In time, it encompassed the middle (16th-14th cents. BC) and late (13th-12th cents. BC) Bronze Age. Few settlements have been examined to date; better known find locations are Poviglio, Tabina and Castione dei Marchesi. The finds show rectangula…

[German version] The term Ausonian Culture is used to describe the culture of the Liparian Islands and the north-east of Sicily during the Late Bronze Age and at the end of the Bronze Age. The name is a reference to Auson, the father of the mythical founder Liparus (Diod. Sic. 5,7,5-6; Dion. Hal. Ant. Rom. 1,22,3). The Italian mainland origins of the  Ausones are generally accepted on account of the similarities between archaeological finds from their culture with those from the Subappenine cultur…

[German version] This item can be found on the following maps: Villanova Culture The ancient settlement of P. lies in the hinterland of Syracusae (Sicily). The plateau of approximately 8 ha in area is naturally protected by deeply incised valleys, and is connected with the surrounding area only by a narrow saddle. It may be identical with the pre-Greek Hybla [2]. All that survives of the ancient settlement are the remains of the so-called anáktoron, considered to be the seat of the ruler of P. In addition to living spaces, this building also contained a bronze worksh…

[German version] I. Celto-Germanic area In central Europe from the Byzantine period onwards, hoard finds (HF; storage, treasure, safekeeping, mass, hidden finds, etc.) primarily of metal objects (copper, bronze, iron, precious metals) are an important archaeological group of finds. The diversity of terms reflects the breadth of the discussion of the importance of the HF. The various contexts of the finds, e.g. solid ground, moors, rivers, special places (rocks, crevices, caves, transport routes, etc.…

[German version] The T. mountain zone lies between the modern towns of Civitavecchia and Bracciano, about 70 km to the north of Rome. On the evidence of the rich hoard finds of Coste del Marano and Monte Rovello and the settlements of Luni sul Mignone, Monte Rovello and several necropoleis it first flourished at the end of the Bronze Age (12th-10th cents. BC). By contrast, it is not until the Etruscan period (from the 7th cent. BC) that there seems to have been a further intensive phase of settlem…